"The current high level of interest rates will increase default rates of leveraged companies. For over two decades, American companies benefitted significantly from a relatively benign interest rate environment and borrowed extensively via loans and bond issuances. After eleven Federal Reserve hikes in less than a two-year period, numerous companies are feeling the pressures of higher borrower costs. Even well-known large international companies found it expensive to borrow abroad given high interest rate levels in the United Kingdom and European Union."